Thetford Elementary School

News and Views

April 27, 2007 Issue 13

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK:

School Writing Initiative: This week the school embarked on its second “All School Write” to culminate work the teachers and students having been doing around creating “voice” in writing. This initiative began with collaborative work during three of our ski inservice days this winter. During this time we refined our understanding of voice and developed strategies for teaching voice through “interactive read-alouds”, discussion and modeling.

Our teachers worked together to share their own teaching strategies and to study the work of noted experts Donald Graves, Lucy Calkins, Donald Murray, Katie Wood Ray and others. These activities are a wonderful opportunity to pull the school together on a shared mission. We hope you’ll stop by to see the work, which is posted in the hallway across from the library!

A celebration of Diversity: In preparation for our visit from Ruby Bridges this November, our students have been doing classroom studies of people who stood up for what they believed and made sacrifices for their principles and humankind through their actions, ideas or inventions.

People identified by the students for this study are in some way connected with curriculum topics in their classes. The student work will be displayed as a celebration of diversity on the evening of May 4^th in conjunction with our French Quebec concert. We hope to see you there!

Ruby Bridges comes to talk with TES students: In 1960, Ruby Bridges entered the William Frantz Public School in New Orleans as the first African American student to attend a formerly all-white public elementary school. Accompanied by Federal Marshals, she was the first student to abide by the landmark decision that mandated the desegregation of public schools. Her attendance had a pivotal impact on the Civil Rights Movement.

On November 6^th Ruby Bridges will visit TES to share her historical involvement in the Civil Rights Movement with our children and to provide a model to students of the importance of standing up for one’s beliefs. A planning Team of Joanna Waldman, Meredith Moore, Abby Logan, Annelise Orleck, Dave Celone and Alice Worth have been preparing for this visit by planning peripheral learning opportunities for TES students. We will keep you informed so that you may participate in conversations at home with your child.

Field Work to begin June 15^th: The Thetford School Board in collaboration with the newly formed Thetford Recreation Committee and Thetford Select Board will be upgrading and improving the TES fields this summer. Work is to begin June 15^th and we wanted to give you notice of this ahead of time for planning purposes.

School Lunch Program: I thought it might be best to explain a little bit about our lunch program, which has oversight by the Vermont Department of Education as it is subsidized by the federal hot lunch program. Our kitchen must follow state nutrition guidelines and as a result we are unable to alter menus for the personal tastes of children. If your child is served something that he/she doesn’t like, they may choose to not eat it (for example, they may take the meat out of a ham and cheese sandwich) however we cannot choose not to serve it. Therefore, please do not ask Sheila to alter menus. If your child does not like the item on the menu, please send them to school with lunch. If your child has an allergy, we are certainly able to accommodate this need. Please be sure Joette is informed and she will pass this on to Sheila. Thank you for your cooperation.

School Garden: Plans for a TES school educational garden are underway. The school garden will serve as a hands-on, experiential learning site for nutrition and science education, as well as the integration of other standard-based academic subjects, including math and language arts. In doing so, the school garden will integrate the classroom, cafeteria and community, reaping further benefits such as lessons in ecology/environment, pride in the local farming history, cooperative social skills and serving as an example of place-based learning. Members of the School Garden Committee (a subset of the School Health Team) are: Joette Hayashigawa, Keith Thompson, Sheila Piper, Denise Froehlich, Phil O’Donnell and Katie Johnson. The curriculum will start simply and develop over time, with technical assistance from various sources, including local farmers. If you are willing to contribute time or tools (used, if in good condition), please contact Joette 802-785-2326 x241.

Web Design Mud Season Madness Class: This year Mary Wunderlich conducted a Web Design Mud Season Madness class. 8 students in grades 4-6th participated in the web design class. Each student completed a page within 4 weeks to post to our school website. Many students took their own digital photos or scanned pictures from books. Daniel Laroche (TA student) volunteered to assist.

Please visit our school website to view these new pages:

www.thetfordschool.org

Our web site also includes recent school board minutes, TES newsletters, useful educational links, and more.

And Some Reminders…

April 30^th 6:30-8:00: Parent night with TA staff at TES gym/multipurpose room for

parents of TES sixth graders. The Thetford Academy Parent’s Guide (blue booklet) was sent home with your child before vacation to help prepare you for this discussion. We look forward to seeing you at this first event to help transition to TA!

Samantha Moffatt and her group of Quebec musicians will be performing a Family French Concert for TES students and families on Friday May 4 from 7:00-8:00 PM. Save the date for this special family event.

A special Kids Connection event will be held at school on Monday May 21, which will include a cookout and outdoor field events, weather permitting. The menu will consist of hot dogs, hamburgers and veggie burgers. Unless there are special dietary needs students will not need lunch from home that day. At the end of the afternoon, the PTO will treat us all to an “ice cream social” to celebrate the box top collection efforts. We are all looking forward to this special event.

COMMUNITY NOTES:

Summer Sports Camp (Ages 7-12)

Days full of fun and exercise for your child. We will be playing a variety of sports type games. Outside when we can - inside when we can't. Taking hikes, bike riding and swimming. Bring a bag lunch - we will provide a drink and a snack. This will run Monday-Friday (9:30-1:30) the weeks of June 25th, July 9th, 16th, 23rd & 30th. Sign up now as space is limited. The Body Zone - 261 Rt 5, Fairlee, VT - 333-4100